Gotcha's Using the SBS 2008 Answer File

This blog post comes courtesy of all of the folks that have already gotten into trouble using the SBS 2008 Answer File and "Certificate Authority Name".  Through the beta process, we've found a number of people miss-using the Certificate Authority Name from the Answer File.

The Certificate Authority Name is only used to override the default.  If you leave this blank (which is totally acceptable) you will end up with a Root certificate issued to %DOMAIN%-%SERVER%-CA (e.g. CONTOSO-SBSSRV-CA, for the NETBIOS domain as CONTOSO, and the server name as SBSSRV).

You can override this to be whatever you want EXCEPT your domain name.  Make it "Contoso CA" or "Contoso Web Certificate Authority".... just don't make it "remote.contoso.com" if that's the domain you will use for your network.

What happens if you do make this mistake? you'll need to use a DIFFERENT domain name inside the Internet Address Management wizard, because this wizard will fail to configure anything certificate related on your network.

If you're not sure what to put in here, just leave it blank.  Oh, and one more thing, if you make something far too long, or use crazy complex characters, then the server ignores your selection and just makes it DOMAIN-SERVER-CA again.

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Windows Small Business Server 2008 RTMs!

Today, at 11:00am, the entire SBS product team crowded into the Ship-room conference room (most likely a fire violation) to sign-off and celebrate the release of Windows SBS 2008 to the wild.  After 3-4 years of sold work on the product, it's time to set it free, time to let it run in the wild.

This has been a HUGE release for this team, of which the following things were accomplished:

• The team integrated not only across team, but across time zones (China, India, United Kindom, etc)
• The team integrated multiple companies (OEMs, Domain name providers, etc)
• The team released 2 private betas, 2 public betas and 2 release candidates
• The team processed over 2000 pieces of feedback from the community betas
• The team doubled in size
• The team continued to fully support SBS 2003, while building a new product, SBS 2008
• The team dunked our Product Unit Manager in whip-cream.

This is a huge milestone for the product team, we are very proud to reach this point, and we are excited to give you Windows Small Business Server 2008!

Copyright Sean Daniel. The data on the website is available "AS IS" with no warranties and confers no rights.

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Windows SBS 2008 - Extensible Alerts!

If you're not familiar with it, Windows SBS 2008 has it's own Software Development Kit, which allows you to extend the security tab, and the Alert infrastructure.  Because of the extensibility of this, our MVPs have started to write their own Alerts, even before the RTM of Windows SBS 2008.

Because they are MVPs and want to share with the community, they have kindly created an SBS Code Plex.  A place for the community to write, and share Alert Add-in's.  If you have an alert that you wrote and find handy, chances are others will as well.  Head on over to download and participate!

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SBS 2008 UA Launch!

The User Assistance team here on main campus has been crunching away for a long time on documentation for the SBS 2008 product.  As we get near to releasing the final bits to manufacturing (known as RTM), the UA team has also finished updating all their content on the web. Below are all the primary links you need to know.

Tech Library:  http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc527559.aspx

With topics included such as:

• Managing your network
• Premium Install Guide
• Adding a Second Server
• Getting Started content
• Updated Release Notes
• Product key info
• Managing OWA
• Managing Internet Mail
• Managing printers
• Managing Users and Groups
• Setup Help
• Managing RWW
• Backing up and restoring data
• More troubleshooting content
• More downloadable books

SBS SDK: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc540261.aspx

Because the documentation is online, it can be updated over time.  The SBS UA team has plenty of content still to add to this document library that should continuously publish over the next several months!

Why is this important to you?  Because when something isn't clear in the UI, we document it.  So why risk making a mistake when you could easily just read the documentation to understand the product, instead of just guess what things are for.  Get familiar, get acquainted, get reading.

Copyright Sean Daniel. The data on the website is available "AS IS" with no warranties and confers no rights.

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Exclusive Opportunity for SBS Specialists and Partners!

While normally I focus on technical tips and tricks, this one cool tip, because if you graduate from the program, a "for resale" copy of Windows Small Business Server 2008 is available to you as a prize!

Ok, so now the details of the deal:

Exclusive Opportunity!  Online Peer Groups for Small Business Specialist and Windows SBS Partners

Microsoft announces Online Peer Groups, a new benefit for current Small Business Specialist partners that took the Windows SBS 70-282 exam.

What are the Online Peer Groups?

The Online Peer Groups are an opportunity for Microsoft partners to learn, share and complete activities designed to improve their business and professional lives. The Content will consist of these six topics over a 12-month period:

1. Vision, Mission, Values
2. Business Planning
3. Sales and Marketing
4. Budgeting and Finance
5. HR and Metrics
6. Vendor Engagement and Wrap-up

The online Peer Groups consist of up to 15 members partners per group.  The meetings are scheduled at uniform times.  Each meeting will focus on practical, useful content and tools that help you improve your business over the upcoming month and beyond. Homework and goal assignments are required and will supplement the learning.  Peer group sharing is also a key part of the best practice exchange and overall learning.

• Have to be a current Microsoft Small Business Specialist
• Passed the SBS 70-282 Exam
• Fluency in English (open to partners worldwide)
• Commitment to participate includes attending peer group sessions and completion of homework
• Pay USD $600 for participation (partners that successfully graduate will receive a free ‘for resale’ copy of SBS 2008 Standard Edition)

To learn more or to SUBMIT the nomination form. Form needs to be submitted latest by August 31, 2008 for participation in the FY09 Online Peer Groups. Submitting the form does not guarantee selection. Microsoft and Heartland Technology Groups reserve the right to decline a submission. All peer groups will be conducted in English only.

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Simplify your Favorites Across Computers

I have three different computers I use on a regular basis.  Favorites were useless to me because when I marked something on the web, I never knew if I was going to be using that computer the next time I wanted it.  I discovered Windows Live Favorites. 

Windows Live Favorites keeps your favorites up on a Windows Live server on the Internet, benefits to that? (1) they are backed up, and (2) they can be synced to each computer you use. It's Easy!

Simply install the Windows Live Tool bar from Get Live on each of your computers, it plugs into IE.  Don't worry, if you're not bought into Windows Live Search yet, you can change the search engine it uses, but Windows Live, it's improved a lot!

Your favorites are automatically synced to the Live Favorite service, and then down to each other computer that has the tool bar installed.  Bingo! just like that, your favorites are in sync across all your computers.

As an added bonus, there are sites, such as ZDNet that allow you to add links directly into your favorites.

But wait! It gets better!

If you use Windows Live Spaces, you can choose which favorites to share with your friends.  You add the Favorite Widget, then the favorites you share are visible to all your viewers.

If anything has simplified my life, it's been the ability to have my favorites on all my PCs...

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Online Training with the SBS Product Team

The Windows SBS Product team (yes, that's us), are putting together some training demonstrations to learn SBS 2008 from the comfort of your living room, you don't even have to turn off the Olympics!

Get Ready for the Windows Essential Server Solutions Launch with Technical Training Series

The November 12, 2008 launch for Windows Essential Server Solutions is fast approaching!  Prepare by attending Partner Academy Live technical training sessions for Windows Small Business Server 2008 and Windows Essential Business Server 2008 starting on August 15, 9am PDT with “The Small and Midsize Business Server Platform: Which Is Right for Your Customer?”.  Topics include planning and installation, migration, security, management, virtualization, and more for both Windows SBS 2008 and Windows EBS 2008.

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The SBS Product Team is coming to your Town!

... Or a town near by.

Below is the schedule, to register for an event, simply click up to the partners web site and register!

City	Date
Redmond, WA	Saturday, Sept. 6, 2008
Alpharetta, GA	Tuesday, Sept. 10, 2008
Charlotte, NC	Wednesday, Sept. 11, 2008
Fort Lauderdale, FL	Thursday, Sept. 11, 2008
Houston, TX	Friday, Sept. 12, 2008
Cincinnati, OH	Monday, Sept. 15, 2008
Downers Grove, IL	Tuesday, Sept. 16, 2008
Irving, TX	Wednesday, Sept. 17, 2008
Minneapolis, MN	Thursday, Sept. 18, 2008
South Field, MI	Wednesday, Sept. 17, 2008
Waltham, MA	Thursday, Sept. 18, 2008
New York, NY	Friday, Sept. 19, 2008
San Francisco, CA	Monday, Sept. 22, 2008
Irvine/LA, CA	Tuesday, Sept. 23, 2008
San Diego, CA	Wednesday, Sept. 24, 2008

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Congratulations to Apple!

So this is too funny not to blog.  ZDNet has an article, Congratulations Apple, you made the iPhone less stable than Windows Mobile.

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Dean and Bjorn (SBS vs EBS) from WPC

Now that the WPC videos are live, you can watch Dean and Bjorn talk about SBS and EBS in their session.

To watch the video via Windows Media Player, click here.

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Essential Business Server (EBS) Security PM and Demo

Lingan, a Program Manager on the EBS team talks about Security in EBS. I welcome him to my SBS blog, as a former SBS Program Manager that owned all the networking features prior to me. Enjoy his demo:


EBS Security demo and PM interview

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Curious about the SBS 2008 migration process?

Today the Small Business Server User Assistance team has finished writing up the technical documentation for the Migration from both Windows SBS 2003 to Windows SBS 2008, as well as Windows SBS 2008 to Windows SBS 2008.  The documentation is available on the Windows SBS 2003 Technical Documentation Library.

Direct links if you're interested are here:

• Windows SBS 2003 to Windows SBS 2008
• Windows SBS 2008 to Windows SBS 2008

But wait, there is more, what if you're on site and you don't have access to the web while doing the migration.  The UA team has you covered there with the offline, complete migration help CHM File.

Get familiar, use the Public Beta to practice.

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What's Different between SBS 2003 and SBS 2008?

I thought it might be worth doing a post to call out the major things that are different between Windows Small Business Server 2003, and Windows Small Business Server 2008. I thought doing this in a table format might be helpful.  In this table, I'm comparing directly with the 2003 feature set, I am not discussing added functionality or more robust/secure functionality of which is a lot of the extra effort.

In no particular order ...

Windows SBS 2003	Windows SBS 2008
x86 (32-bit) Only	x64 (64-bit) Only
Setup asks technical questions and allows you to place data stores in the UI	Setup doesn't ask technical questions, if you want some, look at the answer file to enter the migration path, or make modifications to setup, making it more predictable, easier and faster.
Setup asks you technical questions about your router	Setup detects routers at 192.168.x.1 and 192.168.x.255 automatically
Windows Firewall disabled	Windows Firewall enabled and protecting the server before setup is finished
Can deploy as Edge NAT box, or Single-NIC	Deploy's as Single-NIC only, flexibility for any type of router (hardware or software) to be used in front of SBS.
DHCP can be deployed on Router or SBS server	DHCP strongly recommended on SBS server, can disable using advanced console only
Post Setup called "To Do" list	Post Setup called "Getting Started" List
Administrator account used, but encouraged to be renamed	New Administrator account created during setup, and the built-in is disabled out of the box
Configure E-mail and Internet Connection wizard was 27 wizard pages long	Connect to the Internet Wizard for outbound connectivity Internet Address Management Wizard for inbound connectivity, which also configures domain names with participating domain name providers Add a Trusted Certificate Wizard for adding certs to the box Configure a Smart Host Wizard for outbound e-mail smarthost configuration Fix-My-Network wizard for continuous re-runs to reset configuration to factory defaults
User Templates	Renamed to "User Roles"
Power User can log into SBS administration snap-in with limited tasks	Standard User with administration links, gets additional links in Remote Web Workplace for management of Office Live, Connecting to the server, etc.
POP3 Connector was limited for SSL access, should be used for transition tool only.	POP3 Connector re-written to support SSL access to mail accounts.  Continues to be a transition tool.
Remote Web Workplace was on/off for all users	Remote Web Workplace can be limited to be used for certain users only (all users by default).
Business-card web-site was a white paper solution to host on the local box	Integration with Office Live for configuration of Business card web-site Integration with Office Live for hosted SharePoint Integration with Office Live for AdSense advertising
Backup was NTBackup based, support for USB disk drive and Tape	Backup is based on new VSS technology, and is much quicker, but no longer supports tape.
Email Reports Daily and Instant alerts from a defined list	An extensible list of alerts and daily reports
Security roll-up of the Server only, patch level of clients only.	Security roll-up of the server and clients.  Including Firewall Status, AV status, Patch Status, Malware Status, Free Disk space and others!
Windows Server 2003 Exchange Server 2003 Windows SharePoint Services v2 WSUS v2	Windows Server 2008 Exchange Server 2007 SP1 Windows SharePoint Services v3 WSUS v3
Remote Web Workplace shows all computers to connect to	Remote Web Workplace can show all computers, but defaults to a user
Self-Issued Certificate was your responsibility to distribute	Handy distribution tool provided that can be taken home on a USB/Floppy drive and installed on remote computers, or windows mobile devices
Single Leaf/Root Self-issued Certificate	Root Cert/Leaf Cert combination so renewing the leaf cert doesn't require redistributing the certificate package
No Anti Virus included	120 day trial versions of OneCare for the Server, and Forefront Security for Exchange included.
Folder Redirection is entire network or no one.	You can choose which users have their "My Documents" redirected to the server
All files were able to be put on the server	You can filter which type of documents are not allowed on the server, such as music files, etc.
Support for Windows 2000 clients and higher	Support for Windows XP SP2 clients and higher
Windows Mobile access was always allowed	Windows Mobile access can be enabled by user, and devices can be managed through Outlook Web Access.
Two consoles, the Administrators console, and the Power Users console	Three consoles, the Administrators console, the administrators console with advanced links, and the MMC console with most native tool consoles already in it.
Single type of CAL	Lower price CALs for Standard server & users that aren't using the features in Premium
CALs purchased in 5/25 packs	CALs purchased in 1/5/25 packs
User needs to remember links	Administrator maintained Vista Gadget for common company links

That's the list I can think of.  If I missed something, feel free to let me know and I will be sure to add it.  Itching to try out the beta? Head over to MultiplyYourPower.com, and register to provide feedback and participate in the community over at the Small Business Server Connect site.

Copyright Sean Daniel. The data on the website is available "AS IS" with no warranties and confers no rights.

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Windows SBS team Merges Help Documentation for 2003 and 2008

Folks, the User Assistance team has merged the SBS 2008 and the SBS 2003 documentation into the new SBS TechNet library (previously where only the SBS 2008 content resides).  So this means that all of the SBS content is now accessible in at the same link over on TechNet.

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